


Wanting to Be Wanted

by Buffintruder



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Era, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Greed (FMA) Lives, Nightmares, Post-Canon, greed doesn't lie except to himself, just all the friendship that greed deserved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-10-20 04:57:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17615924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buffintruder/pseuds/Buffintruder
Summary: Five times Greed was bad at realizing he cared about people, and one time he wasn’t.





	Wanting to Be Wanted

**Author's Note:**

> Look is this pretty cheesy? Yes, but I did write this all in one day right after I finished fma brotherhood, and I was even less over Greed than I am now.  
> Because Brotherhood doesn’t really go into it, I didn’t know about how Greed got his gang of chimeras, so even though I went back and switched some stuff in the first scene so it followed canon better, that’s why it is the way it is.

**1**

There were rumors of a new monster in Dublith.

An unknown blond woman had been seen escaping a house through air ducts that were too narrow for any human to go through, the gossips said. The military had collapsed a warehouse on top of her, but somehow she had wormed her way out from underneath the rubble before she could be dug up and arrested, they said. Someone had seen her stretch her arms unnaturally long to grab a statue off the top shelf before running off, they said.

There were people in this town who might think that it was just a talented but still very human thief, and that the gossip mill had spun mere odd happenings into impossible fantasy. The recent string of robberies was troubling, but hardly monstrous, they would say.

But Greed knew better, which was why he had sent Dolcetto to track her down. Being the loyal and talented minion that he was, he came back with an address that same afternoon.

Now Greed found himself in the shadows beneath a bridge. He climbed on top a rock to get a better view, finding a comfortable seat and easily spotting the sleeping woman curled up under a small pile of blankets. He spoke before his staring could get awkward—Greed was a lot of things but he was no creep. “I know what you are.” His voice rang out in the empty darkness.

Before he had even finished his sentence, the woman had jumped up into a standing position, knife in one hand. There was something fluid about her movements, like she was one flexible thing, rather than broken up into a few immovable sections connected by joints like most humans. Her eyes darted wildly until they rested on Greed, perched near the base of a bridge.

“I rather doubt it.” Her voice was cool, but her muscles were tensed to run. “What do you want?”

“I’m not here to hurt you or turn you in,” Greed said. He tucked his hands behind his head and leaned back against the bridge support in a casual manner. “Quite the opposite, in fact. I’m here to recruit you.”

“I’m not looking to join a gang or anything, so you can just leave,” she said, raising her knife a little more threateningly.

“Why? Got a secret you can’t let the _humans_ know?” Greed asked. He raised an eyebrow, though it was probably too dark for her to really make out his face. “You’d fit right in with us.”

She hesitated. “Humans?”

“Like I said, I know you’re a chimera,” Greed said, ignoring her flinch. “I’ve already got a bunch working for me. Why not join and make it one more?”

“I—I’m not alone?” During the earlier conversation, there had been a fanged defensiveness wrapped around every syllable, but now it dropped, and she almost sounded vulnerable. “I mean I—I knew there were others at the lab... but I thought—I thought I was the only one to escape...”

She must have gotten out before Greed had freed the others in the lab. Or maybe the government was working on chimera experiments in other locations too, which Greed would not put past them. He would have to ask her later.

“Nah,” Greed said, sliding off the rock onto his feet, careful to keep his posture nonthreatening. “There’s Bido who’s part gecko, Dolcetto who’s part dog—” he began, ticking them off on his fingers.

“What about you?” she asked. Her knife was about half a foot lower than it had been at the start of the conversation.

“I’m something else,” he said, flashing her a wide smile. “You’ll find out if you join.”

“I want to at least know your name before I agree to anything.”

“I’m Greed,” he said, his smile growing sharper. He already had her interest; now all he needed to do was play along until she officially agreed. Piece of cake.

“Right,” she said in a way that made him think she didn’t entirely believe him. To be fair, ‘Greed’ did sound like a name he had given himself to sound powerful, but it wasn’t like he had any others he could use instead.

“You never told me what you are,” Greed said before she could get too hung up on his name.

“Snake,” she said, and if she was bothering to give him personal information, he knew she wasn’t going to refuse his offer.

“So you in or what?”

“I...” She paused in consideration, though Greed knew that her mind was already pretty much made up. “I guess I don’t have anywhere better to go.”

“Good,” Greed said. He turned around and began walking out from under the bridge. “Now let’s get you someplace better to sleep than this dump. If we hurry back, there might even be some steak left from dinner.”

Behind him, there was a moment of surprised silence. “Um. Thank you.”

“It’s nothing,” Greed said, waving his hand dismissively. He didn’t bother glancing back to see if the woman was following. “You’re one of mine now, which means I’m not going to let you slum it anymore.”

 

**2**

This was the first winter solstice since Greed had assembled his gang at the Devil’s Nest. It seemed appropriate, therefore, to have some sort of celebration.

Greed didn’t know the exact traditions of the holiday, having never really experienced it himself. His first hundred years had been spent working with his human-hating homunculi family and the next hundred years was spent wandering from place to place, gathering people and items that never seemed to stick around for long.

Still, he had spent enough time watching what other humans did to have some idea of what to do. This was his first chance to celebrate the solstice with long-term companions, so despite his lack of knowledge, there was no way he was missing this opportunity.

Early that morning, he went out to find any stores that were still open on the holiday. He ended up buying approximately half the stock of the butchery with the scary lady and enough bread and vegetables to feed a small village. He got a lot of candles too, because he was pretty sure they had something to do with the holiday, even though his place had great lighting without the extra boost.

“What’s all this?” Dolcetto asked as he and three others walked into the back room of the pub.

Greed set down the candle he had just finished lighting and spread his arms wide. “Haven’t you heard? It’s the solstice. I’m being festive.”

“Oh,” Dolcetto said, blinking. The other three exchanged glances. “I didn’t expect you to be so into it.”

“You aren’t normally this into human traditions,” Martel said, eyeing him suspiciously.

“I wasn’t in the mood for those other holidays. Look, are you just going to complain about everything or appreciate what I’m doing? I even got stuff for solstice dinner!” Greed said, pointing to the pile of shopping bags. “You’re going to have to get it ready yourself though.”

Roa snorted. “Thanks, I guess.”

“Hey, I have never needed to cook in my entire life,” Greed said. “I’m probably doing you all a favor by not trying to learn now. Besides, it’s the thought that counts or something like that, right?”

His four minions looked each other again.

Greed frowned, his excitement starting to deflate. “Are you not happy with this?”

“No, we appreciate it!” Dolcetto said, smiling widely in a way that didn’t seem fake, even if was clearly meant as appeasement. “It’s just surprising, that’s all.”

“Yeah!” Bido said. “I haven’t done this since before the military, so I’m glad to have people to celebrate with this year!”

Slightly mollified, Greed uncrossed his arms. “That’s not all either. I got you a present. Something to brighten the place up.”

He turned to pull out something large, flat, and covered by a cloth from behind the pile of groceries. He had spent hours working on it, and now that the time had come to let others see it, a part of him wondered if it was good enough, if all that work had been for vain. With only a small hesitation, Greed flung off the covering, revealing his masterpiece.

“Oh,” Martel said, her eyes wide.

“This is... amazing,” Bido murmured. “Thanks, boss.”

“I—” Dolcetto started. “Wow. Just wow.”

“It’s perfect,” Roa said, something soft and genuine in his smile.

“Don’t get too mushy,” Greed said, rolling his eyes. His chest felt light and warm for some reason. Even the emptiness that had always been in the back of his mind, constantly demanding for _more_ , was quiet for once. “You’re all mine, which means I’m responsible for your well being, including mental. That’s all it is. Don’t want you getting dissatisfied and leaving.”

“Of course,” Dolcetto said far too quickly. Greed felt slightly betrayed by his supposedly loyalest henchman.

“Yeah,” Roa rumbled.

The four of them exchanged soft grins, like they knew something Greed did not, like they were sharing some inside joke.

“What are you all smirking about?” Greed snapped.

“Nothing,” Martel said. “Nothing at all.”

Greed wanted to get angry, but he looked at his painting of his team, smiling and happy, and then at the people standing next to him, life reflecting art. He could let it go, he figured. Just this once.

 

**3**

The fight had finished a short time ago, and Greed was taking some time to get used to his new existence and body.

It was quite a strange experience. He didn’t have any memories past an hour ago, but he did have knowledge, including knowledge of the fact that people weren’t supposed to be born knowing anything. People that weren’t him, at least. Greed knew how to move his limbs, how to protect himself with the Ultimate Shield, how to fight. He knew that he was a homunculus, that he needed to obey Father, that humans didn’t normally let outside forces come in and take over their bodies as easily as Ling had.

Ling had been pretty dormant at first, until that brief moment when they were fighting Edward and he surfaced just long enough for them to get smacked in the face. But other than that one incident, he hadn’t even tried resisting.

It worried Greed. His instincts told him that nothing was free unless taken by force or trickery, especially when they were as valuable as someone’s own body. Ling had given some explanation—something about wanting immortality to become the Emperor of his country—but what use was any of that if he didn’t even own his body anymore?

It made Greed feel like something else was up, like Ling could secretly break or at least hinder Greed’s control over his body. Which didn’t make sense since because Greed could have overwhelmed Ling’s soul out of existence when he first took over. The only reason he hadn’t was because Ling had easily given in, and Greed got the sense that doing anything to cause Ling to fight him would increase the chances of the body rejecting him. He wondered if he should have gone for it anyway.

Greed opened his hand and closed it, the motion as easy as if this body had always been his. It was both strange and perfectly natural.

 _Excuse me, Greed?_ Ling asked, finally breaking the silence. Greed couldn’t hear all of Ling’s thoughts, only the ones that were directed at him, but he could get a vague sense of Ling’s emotional state. Right now, he was all fierce determination.

 _What is it_?

_I gave you my body willingly, and even let you fight my friends without giving you too much trouble. If—_

_Only because you were busy being in shock over losing your body,_ Greed interrupted. He didn’t want the kid taking credit for a compliance that had been forced.

 _Either way,_ Ling continued, completely undeterred, _if you want this easy partnership to continue, you will do one thing for me._ His tone held no room for refusal.

 _Okay, sure,_ Greed thought. _What do you want?_

There was only a moment of surprised silence before it was swept away with a less defensive version of that previous determination. _Let me write and deliver a message to Lan Fan._

Greed considered it. That was the name Edward had said, right before Ling had taken brief control. Whoever this Lan Fan was, they were very important to Ling. _You get control of the arms for one minute to write the message. That’s it. Then_ I’ll _deliver it._

 _That’s all I need_. Ling snatched his arms back the moment Greed loosened control. He untied the now-unnecessary bandage from around his wrist and dipped his finger into a nearby pool of blood from the earlier fight, swiftly painting a few Xingese characters on the white cloth. Once he was finished, he retreated back into their mind before Greed could demand his arms back.

 _And where should I take this to?_ Greed asked.

 _Give it to Ed and Al,_ Ling thought. Greed got the feeling Ling didn’t trust him enough to lead him to wherever Lan Fan was hiding. _They’ll make sure it gets to her._

_Sure thing._

The Elrics had been taken to talk to Wrath in the building above, which meant they would probably walk out the front entrance at some point. All he had to do was go to the surface and wait. Greed guessed that it would probably be awhile before they were out though; it had seemed like they had a lot to discuss. Maybe he should buy some better clothes while he waited.

 _I didn’t think you would actually listen to me,_ Ling thought as Greed started to move. The image of Ling in their mind had his eyebrows furrowed. _Why are you helping me out? I thought you homunculi didn’t care for silly human affairs._

Greed didn’t reply, just kept moving along the underground tunnel. The easy answer was that constantly fighting Ling for control over the body would be irritating, and if all it took to keep the peace was doing this one little thing, it was worth it. It wouldn’t even be a lie.

But there was another answer, one that rang truer in his core. He wondered if it was some leftover from the previous Greed or if it was something that was just an inherent part of Father’s avarice from which he was created.

_You’re mine now, and I always take care of my things._

_I see_ , Ling thought, not quite confused, not quite understanding.

 

**4**

It was just supposed to be quick detour to a nearby town in order to stock up on some supplies. Something short and simple, in and out, no fuss or mess. Edward had been left behind because he was the most distinctive (and most likely to cause trouble) of the group, and Heinkel had remained to make sure he actually stayed put, leaving just Greed and Darius. All they had to do was go to a general store and grab as much nonperishable food as they could carry, and then they would be on their way.

But of course, things did not go as planned.

First of all, Ling spent the entire time complaining about Greed’s choices in food, never mind that they were just trying to survive, not make a gourmet meal. Then as soon as they finally bought all their goods, he and Darius walked out of the store and right into a circle of military men waiting for them with guns raised.

“Aw shit,” Greed said.

“Put your hands in the air!” one of the uniformed men shouted. “Come peacefully and you will not be shot!”

 _Not immediately, maybe,_ Ling muttered in the back of Greed’s mind. _Hey, let me fight them for you! I’m more skilled than you are_.

Greed ignored him and shoved his bags of food into Darius’s arms. The man was part gorilla; he could take the extra weight.

“Freeze!” the leader of the soldiers shouted. Greed obeyed. “Drop your bags now!”

“Get back to the others,” Greed commanded.

“But—” Darius started.

Greed sprung into the air, his Ultimate Shield growing across his whole body. “I’ll meet you there!”

He had barely finished speaking before bullets filled the air, his hardened skin reflecting them easily. He swiped at the nearest soldiers with his metallic claws, sparing a quick glance for Darius. He was running away as Greed had ordered, but about a third of the soldiers had split off to follow him.

Darius swung a shopping bag behind him, knocking over three soldiers without dropping a single can from the bag.

“ _Nice_ ,” Greed said, grinning. He appreciated skilled minions. But that wasn’t enough to stop the soldiers, and a moment later, they were back up and after Darius.

That wouldn’t do. Sure, Darius could probably take them on, but he wasn’t impervious to bullets like Greed was. Besides, if the situation was too fraught for him, Darius might drop all the goods, defeating the whole purpose of the trip in the first place.

 _That cart!_ Ling thought, directing his attention to their left.

Greed glanced over to see a cart full of cabbages along the side of the street right in front of the large clump of soldiers going after Darius. Without another thought, he lunged forward, knocking it into the soldiers’ path. It wouldn’t stop them for long, but even two seconds of distraction could be enough to let Darius get away.

“Hey!” Greed called out. “Why are you chasing after that loser? I’m the real catch here!”

To prove his point, he knocked down a few more soldiers, not even bothering to avoid their guns.

 _This isn’t good,_ Ling thought as a bullet flew past Greed and shattered the window of a store _. This place is too crowded for guns! How can they claim to protect their people when they’re doing more harm to them than we are?! They don’t even care_ _that they might hit someone!_

Greed didn’t really care either, but the prince could get pissy, which was no fun when he had to share a mind with him. So he scrambled up the nearest building, his sharp claws digging into the bricks. The soldiers wouldn’t be able to shoot him well from their position on the ground, so they would either have to focus on chasing him, or they would have to come up to the rooftops with him. Either way, regular people were less likely to get shot.

He dashed to the other side of the roof, jumping across the small alley onto the balcony of an apartment building. With a rickety old fire escape zigzagging up the wall, this building was far easier to climb, and Greed continued on his way, his super powers making his jumps longer and any hard landings harmless.

“This is actually kind of fun,” Greed muttered. He had always wanted to be the dashing anti-hero in a rooftop chase.

After a bit, the sound of shouts behind him came to a stop. Greed looked behind him and down at the ground, but there didn’t seem to be any more soldiers on his tail. He dropped his Ultimate Shield and took a sharp right, heading in the direction Darius had been going. He probably _could_ go back down to street level, but he would also be more visible there. Also jumping from building to building was _fun_ , and Greed had never been one to deny himself any pleasures.

It took a bit longer than it had to lose the soldiers, but eventually Greed caught up to Darius, who fortunately still had all the shopping bags. There were two soldiers right in front of him, poised to shoot.

Greed leaped cat-like off the roof and landed in a crouch right between the soldiers. A whirlwind of movement later, and the two soldiers lay unconscious—not dead because Ling disliked killing people unnecessarily. The kid had better appreciate the lengths Greed went to in order to keep him happy. Although after accidentally killing his former subordinate, he could see Ling’s point, not that he would admit it.

“I could’ve handled them, but thanks anyway,” Darius said, turning back around to head toward where they had left Edward and Heinkel, Greed following suit.

Greed scoffed. “I wasn’t going to let them harm my possessions.” He made a small gesture at Darius and the shopping bags, as if to imply they were all at about the same level, and more importantly, all _his_.

 _Oh, is_ that _what your excuse is?_ Ling thought, the smirk clear in his voice.

 _It’s not an excuse, it’s the truth_ , Greed thought, annoyed. _I don’t like people stealing or damaging what’s mine_.

 _Uhuh,_ Ling thought, clearly not believing him.

Greed scowled. _You know I never lie_.

 _Not to others maybe, but to yourself? You do that all the time_.

 _Shut up,_ he snapped. _You’re just a human. You can’t understand me._

He was met only with laughter echoing through his mind.

 

**5**

Night had fallen, and in the light of the full moon, the shadows were long and ominous. All of Greed’s team were sleeping by the remains of the fire. With the wind in the leaves and the distant sounds of various animals, the night wasn’t silent, but it was peaceful.

Greed leaned back against the trunk of the tree he was sitting in and stared at the horizon. Still no sign of danger. There hadn’t been any run-ins with the military in nearly a month, and the team had all relaxed their guard from paranoid to justifiably cautious. He didn’t expect trouble, but that didn’t mean he was going to get lax with security.

In the back of his mind, Ling was dozing. His emotions were settled, a soft reminder that Greed was never alone anymore.

Below him was a quiet rustling: someone shifting in their sleep. Greed let the feeling of near-contentment wash over him. He always wanted more than what he had; it was the defining aspect of his being. But right now, that desire was weaker than it usually was. It was nice, watching over his people, making sure they were safe, protected. Things could be better, but he didn’t hate this.

The rustling below continued, a little more rapid now, a little more urgent.

Frowning, Greed swung off the side of the branch he was on and landed softly on the grass below. In the sleeping bag nearest him, Ed was squirming frantically, murmuring something that Greed couldn’t make out.

Logically, Greed knew what this was. He had seen people have nightmares before. His gang at the Devil’s Nest often had them because it was impossible to become a chimera and avoid trauma, at least not the way the government did it. His memories from the former version of himself were quite spotty, leaving unhelpful impressions more than anything concrete, but even along this journey, he had seen nightmares a couple times when it was his turn to keep watch.

They had never seemed as bad as this though. In the cold moonlight, Ed’s features were twisted in agony, more pained than the time he fell and reopened his chest wound, more pained than the time he thought Ling might have been completely taken over by Greed and that there was nothing left of him.

Just watching him was awful. If some magical wish-giving spirit had appeared right there, Greed wouldn’t have wished for power or money or women or men or any of the things he normally would have; he would have wished for Ed to stop feeling this pain, just to avoid that horrible expression.

Greed stared, helpless in the face of something he would never directly experience. There had to be some way to stop this. He moved closer, reaching out one hand, then hesitated.

Were you supposed to wake people from nightmares or were you supposed to leave them alone? And what were you supposed to do afterwards? Greed didn’t know how humans worked, and that lack of knowledge had never seemed more hindering than now.

 _Ling!_ he mentally yelled. He could feel Ling’s emotions swirl then rise from that settled sleeping state into something confused and vaguely irritated.

 _What?_ Ling demanded grouchily.

 _Ed!_ Greed thought, mentally pointing to the boy in front of them. He gave Ling a moment to process what was happening. _What do I do? Do I wake him up?_

 _Yes,_ Ling thought, his emotions smoothing out into concern. _But don’t touch him. He might react badly._

“Hey, Ed!” Greed hissed, to no response. “Edward Elric!” Greed tried again a little louder. Still nothing.

Screw Darius and Heinkel, Greed decided. If they woke up because he was too loud, they could always just go back to sleep. Saving Ed from his nightmares was more important. “Yo, shortie!”

Ed shot up, the insult that grated most on his nerves grabbing his attention even from the depths of unconsciousness.

“Al?” The word burst out of Ed like something instinctive and unfiltered. His eyes were blank, his shoulders trembling slightly with every breath. Then he blinked, losing his unfocused look, and glanced at Greed crouched over him. “Oh.” He looked down.

Greed felt a rush of—something. He didn’t know what. _Oh, so I’m not good enough for you?_ part of him tried, but that wasn’t the source of this weird pain in his belly. Maybe it was frustration that Alphonse, the person who was most qualified to deal with Ed like this, wasn’t there. All Ed had was Greed. He was definitely not the best person for this situation, but there was nothing else he could do but try.

 _What now??_ he asked Ling.

_Talk to him. Make sure he knows he’s not in still in his dream._

“You okay?” Greed asked quietly.

“I’m fine,” Ed said automatically, but Greed didn’t need Ling to tell him that Ed was lying.

Greed snorted. “Sure you are. Look, I’m not going to leave you like this when you’re obviously suffering. What’s going on?”

“Just nightmares,” Ed said, turning away from Greed and lying back down on top his metal arm. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

 _Don’t push him_ , Ling thought.

That didn’t leave Greed with many options. He stayed crouched there, unmoving. He felt he should do something more, but he didn’t know what.

Ling mentally nudged Greed out of the way, taking control of their right arm. Greed offered no resistance. This was hardly the time to be fighting for control, and Ling seemed to have a better idea of what he was doing. He gently placed his hand on Ed’s flesh shoulder before returning control back to Greed.

At the moment of contact, Ed flinched, quickly relaxing after another heartbeat. “Ling? Is that you?”

 _Why did you do that?_ Greed asked Ling.

“Still me,” Greed said out loud. “The hand was Ling though.”

_Physical contact can help. It’s comforting and grounding._

“I thought so,” Ed muttered.

“What’s that supposed to mean, huh?” Greed demanded.

Edward flipped over onto his back so that he faced them again. There was a small smirk on his face that he often wore when he riling someone up. “Nothing. Just that he’s a lot more touchy feely than you.”

“I’m the _personification of a feeling_ ,” Greed scoffed, offended only because Ed seemed to mean it as a jab. He had never tried to convince people he was good with other people’s emotions before. “I am literally more feeling-y than he is.” To prove it, Greed shoved Ed to the side, crawling into the sleeping bag with him and tossing an arm over him.

“What are you doing?” Ed hissed, jerking away.

“Ling says that cuddling helps with nightmares,” Greed said.

 _I did_ _not actually say that, though you aren’t wrong,_ Ling thought, his amusement pouring through every syllable.

“I’m not some kid!” Ed snapped. “You don’t need to coddle me!”

“Never said you were. Though if we’re talking comparative age, even Darius and Heinkel are babies compared to me,” Greed said, ignoring the fact that he didn’t remember anything clearly before a few months ago. “But you’re having trouble sleeping, and if you don’t rest well, that means you’ll be functioning worse tomorrow. And I can’t have one of my men be anything less than the best.”

There was a brief pause. “Fine,” Ed muttered, and Greed could hear his scowl. “But if you fucking tell _anyone_ —”

“Like I’d mess with my macho reputation?”

“Right.” Ed snorted. “Macho.” He turned his back toward Greed and said no more.

 _Another example of making sure you don’t lose another of your ‘possessions’?_ Ling asked, his mental eyebrow raised.

 _Yes,_ Greed sent back, irritated by Ling’s mocking tone. _What’s with the quotation marks?_

 _You know, caring about the well-being of people the way you do isn’t really comparable to, say, making sure a device is in working order. They’re not your belongings, they’re your_ friends **.**

 _It’s comparable to_ me, Greed snapped. _I don’t have friends. Just people who work for me._ Caring about puny mortals would be against everything Father had created him to be, and Greed might be a rebel, but he wasn’t _that_ much of one. He pointedly did not think about how friendships were two way things anyway, and nobody would ever want him as their friend. At least not loudly enough for Ling to hear. It was a secondary concern at best, since although Greed wanted everything, he could do without friends.

 _You don’t want people to belong_ to _you, you want them to belong_ with _you. And you say people are yours—your friends,_ Ling pressed.

_You know I don’t mean those things like that!_

_Don’t you?_ Ling asked, and Greed couldn’t bring himself to respond.

 

**+1**

After saving the world, Lan Fan had coerced Greed into sharing custody of his body. He also had to give Ling veto power, even when it was Greed’s turn to be in control. This would apparently be important especially once they became Emperor of Xing.

Greed found it unfair, but at least Lan Fan wasn’t as hostile to him anymore. Helping save the world had definitely flipped her view on him if she was even allowing him this much.

It was because of this agreement that Greed found himself going to the hospital with Lan Fan and Mei to visit the Elric brothers, despite being in charge of the body. Ling had wanted to see how they were doing, and it wasn’t really like Greed had anything better to do.

“Alphonse!” Mei squealed the moment they entered the hospital room, immediately rushing to his bedside.

“Mei!” Al exclaimed, his unfamiliar face brightening up at the sight of her. He used his frail arms to push himself into an upright position. “I’m so glad to see you again!”

“I’m pleased that you are both recovering fine,” Lan Fan said. Her tone was polite, but Greed could see the relief in her eyes as she scanned over both of them.

“Yeah, well I’m already bored as hell,” Edward muttered, crossing his arms. “What’s going on with the military? Does everyone know how evil Bradley was, or are they still keeping that under wraps? Mustang won’t tell me anything, the bastard.”

Lan Fan and Mei immediately began updating the Elrics with everything that happened since Father’s defeat, first with the country and then their personal lives.

Greed hung back, without saying a word. He wondered if he should leave. He didn’t belong here with these teenagers who were all close and actually cared for each other. A small doubtful part of him wondered if he should give Ling control over their body so that at least _someone_ could enjoy this meeting, but it went against his core being as the personification of avarice, so he didn’t.

 _They’re not going to yell at you if you talk to them, you know,_ Ling said. Ever since Greed had admitted that all he really wanted was friends then almost died, Ling had adopted a more gentle tone when speaking to him. It wasn’t pity, but Greed still hated it.

 _Eh, I don’t have anything to say,_ Greed said. He felt the burst of skepticism coming from Ling, so he quickly added, _Look, if you want to talk to them, I can let you have the body for a bit._

But instead of being distracted by the opportunity like Greed had hoped he would be, Ling only grew more determined. _No, you should go talk to them. You don’t make friends by not saying anything to anyone._

 _I said I wanted friends in general, not that I wanted_ these _guys as my friends,_ Greed grumbled.

_Well, where better to start?_

“How about you Greed?” Alphonse called from his bed, his timing as convenient as ever. “Or is it Ling? How’s it been going for you?”

“It’s Greed right now,” he said, a flash of surprise rushing through his brain. He hadn’t thought anybody would care to ask him how he was doing. Then again, he was wearing their friend’s body. Of course they would notice and care about Ling. Greed just happened to be there instead.

“Have you been doing well?” Alphonse asked.

“Oh, um, sure. No physical injuries to recover from, thanks to the stone,” Greed said. “Lan Fan made me promise to give Ling control of my body every other day, so you’ll probably be seeing more of him now.”

 _OUR_ _body! Not yours! It was my body first!_ Ling shouted.

“It’s not _your_ body,” Lan Fan snapped. “It’s my lord’s. He’s just allowing you to stay in it.”

“Whatever,” Greed said. _You two are too similar._

Inside their mind, Ling beamed. _That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me!_

“Well,” Ed started. “I wanted to say, er, thanks. For risking your life to save us and take down Father.”

Greed shrugged casually. “Well, you are all mine. I wasn’t going to let him steal you away from me.”

 _You aren’t fooling anyone with that,_ Ling informed him.

“You can drop the ‘you’re my possessions’ shtick now,” Ed said, rolling his eyes.

“Nobody here’s that dumb,” Mei said. “I can see through it, and I’ve only spoken to you twice.”

“What are you talking about?!” Greed demanded, panic crawling up his throat. He wished he had a mental Ultimate Shield to protect his most vulnerable emotions. He knew that the others in this room weren’t the type to rip out his softer feelings and grind them up beneath uncaring feet, but the fact that they _could_ was terrifying. If they could see through him so easily, they had the power to destroy him better than Father ever could. _Am I really that obvious?_

 _You really are_.

“I’m just saying, after being on the run from the government together all that time, I think you can call us friends,” Ed said.

There was a strange giddy, disbelieving bubble welling up in Greed’s stomach. Nobody had ever called him their friend before.

“And any friend of Ed is a friend of mine,” Al added, a kind smile on his newly regained face.

“You don’t have to pretend you don’t care,” Lan Fan said. “I saw you take on Central’s army just because the Buccaneer asked you to. There’s no way that’s selfish.”

Greed could probably dig up some reason to twist, to prove that he was exactly as selfish as he had always claimed to be. He could say that he just wanted to take out soldiers for the hell of it. That he knew they were on Father’s side, and he wanted to stick it to the old man. That he thought they might hurt Ling’s friends, which would make keeping control over their body even more of a pain than before.

But he was more aware of himself now, and he knew those would be lies. So he didn’t say any of that. He just stood there as Ling’s heart beat thunderously in his chest and stared at these impossible teenagers who saved the world and then called him their friend.

 _Just accept it,_ Ling said. _You’re their friend._ He sent a warm pulse of love and affection at Greed that was so gentle and intense that he wanted to cry and drown himself in it. _You’re my friend too._

“I’m your friend?” he echoed.

“Obviously,” Edward said, rolling his eyes like he couldn’t believe Greed was making him say it out loud. “Dumbass.”

Lan Fan smiled, though there was something threatening about it. “I wouldn’t allow anyone to remain in my lord’s body if there wasn’t at least the chance we might become friends in the future.”

“And I don’t know you very well yet, Mr. Greed, but I would like to!” Mei said.

“You seem pretty cool!” Alphonse agreed, an open smile stretching across his face.

“I’m your friend,” Greed repeated, a little more certain this time. He grinned. The aching emptiness that had been plaguing him nonstop since birth was no longer present. All this time, he had been claiming people as his, when it really was the opposite. “I’m yours.”


End file.
